Palestinian group threatens to kill Hamas leaders

MIDDLE EAST: The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, threatened for the first time on Tuesday to kill Hamas leaders, including exiled political chief Khaled Meshaal.

The threat marked an escalation in the power struggle between Fatah and the ruling Hamas movement after two days of internal fighting in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank in which 12 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded.

In a statement sent to Reuters, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said it held Meshaal, Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam and senior Interior Ministry official Youssef al-Zahar responsible for the deaths.

"We in al-Aqsa announce, with all might and frankness, the ruling of the people in the homeland and in the diaspora, to execute the head of the sedition, Khaled Meshaal, Saeed Seyam and Youssef al-Zahar, and we will execute this ruling so those filthy people can be made an example," the statement said.

Meshaal is based in Damascus, while Seyam and al-Zahar are in the Gaza Strip. Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri said al-Aqsa was "pouring oil on the fire" between the rival groups.

He said Hamas would "not show mercy" if any of its leaders were targeted by what he called "the leaders of the internal coup". A spokesman for the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza declined to say whether the statement represented the views of the entire group or certain factions.

The spokesman described the statement as a "natural response" after Seyam ordered his forces to take to the streets of Gaza on Sunday to confront striking policemen demanding overdue salaries. Clashes between rival Hamas and Fatah forces quickly erupted and spread.

Meanwhile gunmen from rival Palestinian factions killed three people and wounded at least 22 others in the Gaza Strip and West Bank on Monday as Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas appealed for an end to the internal fighting.

A top aide to President Abbas said Abbas was seriously considering the possibility of forming an emergency government, an administration of technocrats or calling early elections to end the crisis with Hamas.

"Decisions should be taken in a short period of time," the aide, Nabil Amr, said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

A protest by some 5,000 Abbas supporters in Rafah refugee camp calling for the disbanding of a Hamas-led police force and the resignation of Interior Minister Saeed Seyam, turned violent with exchanges of fire between gunmen and the Hamas-led force.

A policeman and a demonstrator were killed and at least 18 other protesters were wounded in the clashes as shots and loud explosions from hand grenades rang out, witnesses and medics said.

In the town of Khan Younis two Fatah activists were abducted by unidentified gunmen. Fatah blamed Hamas for the kidnappings.

Earlier, gunfire erupted inside the main Shifa hospital between Hamas-led police and the family of a dead fighter loyal to Fatah. At least three people were wounded in the clash.

Gaza, Tuesday, Reuters